Contemporar

y Global
Governance
Prepared by:
JOYMEE D. MALLO
Global
Governance
1. Identify the roles and functions of the United
Nations.
2. Identify the challenges of global governance in the
21st century.
3.Explain the relevance of the state amid
globalization.

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Global
Governance

• No state is accountable to any organization.

• Free from external intervention.
• But there is a pattern as to how each state should
generally behave.
- E.g. adhere to global navigation routes, respect territorial
boundaries of each other.

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Global
Governance
“How is the world governed even in the absence of
a world government?”
• For Weiss and Thakur (2014), the answer to the question
lies in global governance.
• Global governance as “the sum of laws, norms, policies, and
institutions that define, constitute and mediate trans-border
relations between states, cultures, citizens,
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations
and the market—the wielders and the objects of exercise of
the international public power” (Weiss and Thakur, 2014:
535).
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Global
Governance
• “the way in which global affairs are managed. As there are no global
government, global governance typically involves a range of actors
including states, as well as regional and international organizations.
However, a single organization may nominally be given the lead role
on an issue.

• Thus, global governance is thought to be an international process of

consensus-forming which generates guidelines and agreements that
affect national governments and international corporations (WHO,
2015).

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Sources of Global
Governance

1. States sign treaties and form organizations to help in the process of

drafting and legislating public international law, i.e. international
rules that govern interactions between states. e.g. peace treaties.

2. International Non-government Organizations (NGOs), though they do

not have formal state power, can influence government or states to
behave in a certain way. E.g. WHO, an international organization
under the UN, plays a key role in lobbying guidelines during the COVID-
19 pandemic.

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International

Organization
s
I nternational Organizations
(I Os)
• International Organizations refer to “international intergovernmental
organizations or groups that are primarily made up of member-states” (Claudio
& Abinales, 2018: 40).

• United Nations or institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

and World Bank are usually categorized and called International
Organizations.

• International organizations are not a mere amalgamation of various state

interests, but IOs can take on lives of their own.

• IOs can become influential as independent organizations as they can lobby

states to behave in a certain way, like pressuring them to pass a certain law

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Powers of
Listed by Michael N. Barnett Iand
OsMartha Finnemore in Claudio &
Abinales, 2018: 41

1. Power of classification – IOs can invent and apply categories, they create
powerful global standards.
E.g. they can define what poverty means and through that,
nation- states can determine who the poor in their demographic area.

2. Power to fix meanings – a broader function related to the

power of classification; the need to address here is for concepts
such as
“development” to be well-defined. IOs are viewed as legitimate sources of
information by states, organizations, and individuals. The meaning they
create have effects on policies.
E.g. if an IO defined what it means when you say development,
then states will pattern its policies to achieve the kind of 9
Powers of
I Os
3. Power to diffuse norms – IOs can define and/or forward
accepted codes of conduct or behavior. IOs also spread ideas across
the world, thereby establishing global standards.
E.g. They can also spread global standards about no
discrimination on employment and occupation.

*Norms: accepted codes of conduct that may not be strict

law but produce
regularities in behavior.

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Powers of
I Os

 IOs can be sources of great good and great harm (Claudio &
Abinales, 2018: 41).

 As IOs embody global governance, in addition to the powers

they have, the challenge for the actors that comprise these IOs
is to uphold fairness in their blanket deliberations,
policies, and actions that unevenly affect nation-states
engaged in their multilateral bureaucracy and forum.

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Powers of
I Os
 Weiss & Thakur (2014) notes that the life and
survival of IOs rest on two factors:
(1) the capacity to change and adapt;(2) the quality of
their governance.

 The capacity to adapt in an ever-changing

international condition and to uphold a premium
quality in their leadership and practice of
governance.
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The United
Nations
• Thakur (2011) even dubbed the UN as “both a global governance actor
and site” (as cited in Weiss & Thakur, 2014: 535).

• The United Nations is an international organization that is taking the

lead in facilitating global dialogue to uphold the global harmony
among nation-states and strengthen their interconnectivity and
interrelationship (Schattle, 2014: 938).

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The United
Nations
Characterizing the United Nations

1. There are 193 sovereign member-states of UN. The Philippines is a

member of the UN. Filipino diplomat Carlos P. Romulo was elected General
Assembly President from 1949-1950 (Claudio & Abinales, 2014: 42).

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The United
Nations
Characterizing the United Nations

2. Six main organs of the UN:

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The United
Nations
GENERAL ASSEMBLY (GA)

The main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of

the UN. All 193 member-states of the UN are represented in the
GA—the only UN body with universal representation. Decisions
on important questions, such as those on peace and security,
admission of new members, and budgetary matters, require a
two-thirds majority of the General Assembly. The General
Assembly, each year, elects a GA President to serve a one-year
term of office.

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The United
Nations
SECURITY COUNCIL (SC)

The primary responsibility is on the maintenance of international

peace and security. It has 15 member-states, 5 permanent with
veto power (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the
United States) and 10 non-permanent members. The Security
Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to
the peace or act of aggression. SC’s presidency is rotational
(changes every month).

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The United
Nations
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

The principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue

and recommendations on economic, social, and environmental
issues, as well as the implementation of internationally agreed
development goals. It has 54 Members, elected by the General
Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. It is the United
Nations’ central platform for reflection, debate, and innovative
thinking on sustainable development.

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The United
Nations
TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL

As established in 1945 by the UN Charter, under Chapter XIII, to

provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories that
had been placed under the administration of 7 member-states,
and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the
Territories for self-government and independence.

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The United
Nations

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

The principal judicial organ of the UN. The Court’s role is to settle,
following international law, legal disputes submitted to it by
States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to
it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

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The United
Nations

SECRETARIAT

Comprises the Secretary-General and tens of thousands of

international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day
work of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the
Organization's other principal organs.

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The United
Nations
Characterizing the United Nations

3.The UN has significant roles in preventing and managing

conflicts, championing human rights and international
humanitarian law, liberating the colonized, empowering women,
educating children, housing the refugees, liberating the colonized,
and feeding the hungry among other (Weiss & Thakur, 2014: 535).

4. The UN provides and manages the framework for bringing

together the world’s leaders to tackle the pressing problems of the
day for the survival, development, and welfare of all peoples,
everywhere (Weiss & Thakur, 2014: 538).
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Limitations of United
Nations

1.The UN has never transcended the state's system and instead operates
mainly as a forum for states to air their differences and try to resolve
them.

2.The UN has been unable to prevent many atrocities and genocides

around the world during its history. i.e. in the presence of global policies,
the UN is still unable to mediate and put an end to atrocities despite the
perpetrators being members of the UN themselves.

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Gaps in
Global
Governance
Gaps in Global
Governance

WHO (2015):
“critics argue that global governance mechanisms
support the neo-liberal ideology of globalization and reduce the
role of the state (and thus its sovereignty) to that of an adjusting
body for the implementation of international policies. Some argue
that, as a result, the interests of the poorest people and nations
will be ignored unless they have a direct impact on the global
economy.”

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Gaps in Global
Governance
World Health Organization (2015) argues that three primary gaps exist.

1. Jurisdictional gap
between the increasing need for global governance in many
areas – such as health – and the lack of an authority with the power, or
jurisdiction, to take action.

2. Incentive gap
between the need for international cooperation and the
motivation to undertake it. It is said to be closing as globalization
provides increasing impetus for countries to cooperate. However, there
are concerns that, as Africa lags further behind economically, its influence
on global governance processes will diminish
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Gaps in Global
Governance

3. Participation gap
refers to the fact that international cooperation remains
primarily the affair of governments, leaving civil society groups on
the fringes of policy-making.

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Gaps in Global
Governance
• Weiss and Thakur (2014) elaborated ways on how to identify,
diagnose, and fill the gaps through managing knowledge,
developing norms, promulgating recommendations, and
institutionalizing ideas.

1. Knowledge gaps
2. Normative gaps
3. Policy gaps
4. Institutional gaps
5. Compliance gaps

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Gaps in Global
Governance
1. Knowledge gaps

• Important because if we do not know the severity of a problem,

or if we do not have the resources to investigate a particular
issue, then this could become difficult for effective global
governance.
• If we do not have information or research, we will not only
know the severity of the problem, but also how to resolve the
situation or problem.
• Therefore, the first step in addressing a problem is to
recognize its existence to understand that there is a problem.
 then collect necessary data
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Gaps in Global
Governance

2. Normative gaps

• This follow the knowledge gaps

• After we recognize that an issue exists, it is important to
establish norms address that problem.

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Gaps in Global
Governance
3. Policy gaps

• As new problems emerge and new norms arise, they highlight

gaps in policy that also need attention.
• The policy stage refers to the statement of principles and
actions that an organization is likely to take in the event of
particular contingencies.
• Related to the specific policies that one can implement in order
to address the stated problem.
• The UN’s ability to convene and consult widely plays an
enormous part in its ability to formulate recommendations for
specific policies, and institutional arrangements
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Gaps in Global
Governance

4. Institutional gaps

• These are the challenges of implementing any policies that are

put forth by the international community
• Once knowledge has been acquired, norms articulated and
policies formulated, an existing institution can oversee their
implementation and monitoring.

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Gaps in Global
Governance

5. Compliance gaps

One of the final challenges with regards to global governance. This

includes effective implementation, as well as enforcement

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Conclusio
n
● As the symbol of global governance, the United Nations is not
a perfect international organization. However flawed and
limited the UN is, no one can discount how it mediates inter-
state relations and how it influences definitions, policies, state
actions, and the social, economic, political, and cultural
discourses at the international level.
● In the end, global governance resulted to global efforts that
involve the dynamics and participation of both nation-
states and non-nation-states actors.

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Thanks
!
Any questions?

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References
✘ : P. N. (2018). The Contemporary World. C & E
Claudio, L. E. and Abinales,
Publishing, Inc.

✘ Mendoza, C., Tabajen, R., Tomas, EA., Austria R. (2019). Worktext in the
Contemporary World. Nieme Publishing House Co. Ltd., pp. 31-35

✘ Schattle, H. (2014) “Governments and Citizens in a Globally

Interconnected World of States”. In The SAGE Handbook of Globalization.
SAGE Publications Ltd., pp. 931- 950 [e-copy pagination]
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473906020.n7

✘ Weiss, T. G. and Thakur, R. (2014) “The United Nations Meets the Twenty-
first Century: Confronting the Challenges of Global Governance”. In The
SAGE Handbook of Globalization. SAGE Publications Ltd., pp. 534- 552 [e-
copy pagination] http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473906020.n29

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